Theranos Gone for Good - Company Says It Will Disolve

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who started the company when she was 19, was celebrated as a rising Silicon Valley star until it became clear that numerous claims about the company's supposedly revolutionary blood test were bogus.

Theranos, the blood-testing company founded by Elizabeth Holmes, is going out of business.

Holmes was succeeded as CEO by Taylor in June this year, after the former was indicted with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud by a U.S. grand jury. Both executives have denied the charges, according to the Journal. At one time, Holmes was the youngest self-made female billionaire. Instead of the familiar needles, tourniquets, vials, and bandages of the past, Theranos offered a comprehensive blood test that required just a finger stick and a single drop of blood. Her bold talk and black turtlenecks drew comparisons to Steve Jobs.

Holmes, who did not admit wrongdoing, was fined $500,000 and ordered to relinquish 18.9 million shares in the company.

Balwani issued a statement through a representative: "As an investor who put millions of dollars of his own money and almost seven years of his life into Theranos, Mr. Balwani was saddened to see the letter from Theranos to investors [Tuesday]".

When 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes developed the idea of using microchip-enabled technology to conduct blood tests, she realized that she needed to build a company that would make the testing cheaper, more convenient, and accessible to consumers.

Theranos was started in 2003 with a goal to revolutionize medical blood tests and was worth an estimated $9 billion at one point.

Theranos's founder and chairman, Ms. Holmes, and her ex-boyfriend, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani were indicted on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June.

In 2016, federal prosecutors opened criminal investigations into Theranos's promises to investors, and in March 2018, the SEC sued Elizabeth and her company for fraudulently raising more than $700 million from investors.

The Journal's investigation marked the beginning of the end of Theranos.

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